Raymond Mhlaba, 85; Apartheid Opponent Jailed With Mandela

Raymond Mhlaba, 85, an African National Congress veteran who was sentenced with Nelson Mandela to life imprisonment in 1964 for trying to overthrow South Africa's apartheid regime, died of cancer Sunday at a hospital in Port Elizabeth.

Born in a village in the Eastern Cape, Mhlaba dropped out of school for lack of money. He became a committed trade unionist after working in a factory in Port Elizabeth. He joined the Communist Party in 1943 and the ANC in 1944.

In 1963, Mhlaba was arrested with Mandela and six others. In June 1964, they were sentenced to life in prison and sent to Robben Island, the notorious prison on a remote island near Cape Town. Mhlaba was released in 1989.

He became premier of the newly created province of the Eastern Cape in the first democratic multiracial elections in 1994.

Mhlaba resigned in 1997 for health reasons, but later served as ambassador to Rwanda and Burundi.